Tony Stark's Five Rules of Engagement
by Little-Firestar84
Summary: When Tony happens to receive a visit from his little sister Chris, he decides that a revision of his essential rules to use with men is in order... One-shot, prelude to Avengers:birth. R&R, rated t for a bit of "adult" talk...


Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man or any other charchter. who appears here.

NOTE: Christine "Chris" Stark is the character I created for my Blackdragon serie in the marvel comics section. this Chris is not exactly her version, being a littel different form her. i simply watched again the movie, and I thought that this was something could so easily happen.... soo, as always, R&R.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Not only the sun had been gone form hours, but, for it, it was almost time to come back; for what Tony knew, maybe it was already shining, high in the sky. He had been closed in that garage for that long, that he had lost track of time itself; it wasn't that strange, he had already did it several times in the past, and, after all, now he was working on not just one, but two armours – the new Iron Man and a brand new War Machine. But, he thought, this wasn't an excuse to avoid eating, that was still something that he needed to do on his own. And the sun from his Santa Monica home was so magnificent, that he had to get to see it, at least once a day!

"Pepper? Is that you?" Leaving the garage, he "spotted" someone in the kitchen. Instinctively, he had thought of Pepper- she was the only one left with a reason to be there. _No, wait a sec…. _There was also Rhodey. And Happy; they both had spare keys and reasons to be there, and, since he had spotted the intruder only thanks to noises and it wasn't already in sight, he couldn't say if there was a man or a woman in that kitchen.

"Bloody hell!" as he heard the feminine voice, he immediately recognized it; besides, he know of just one woman who could say "bloody hell" with such a marked American – New Yorkers – accent…

He went to the kitchen silently, and leaned against the external side of the isle, looking at the figure who was giving him her back, on her knee, immerged in the fridge, bare feet, a male shirt on, and the worst case of bed hair he had ever seen on her. As he noticed a piece of paper, a note handwritten, left on the isle, he couldn't resist and red it, grinning with amusement.

"Shit, sis, you really have it bad, eh? – he thrown a ball, made of the same piece of paper, at her, hitting the woman on the head; annoyed, she left her spot, to join him, sitting on the opposite side of the piece of furniture, right in front of him – who's this guy who was so sorry to have to leave you but had to because he couldn't do otherwise?"

Looking at her, he noticed that she wasn't wearing one of his shirt – it looked not only cheaper, but better suited for someone a bit taller – a that she had a black tie as belt, again not one of his ones. She looked pretty mad, not just annoyed, as she put on the counter again the unfolded sheet. "Jeez Chris, you really, really have it bad…" As he said so, she gave him her back, crossing her arms; he looked at her with a mix of incredulity, shock and pity. Christine "Chris" Antoinette (Maria was so fond of the name Anthony in all its versions…) Stark was Tony's younger and only (God merciful) sister; according to Pepper, she was how he "would be as a woman", and, as Rhodey had added, "just smaller, with a hot body, and 10 years younger." It was quite true, to be honest. With her black, wild hair and her blue eyes, Chris – world's third smartest being (after Richards and him, but he was almost 100% sure that she was at least as smart as him, if not more, and that she was keeping it quiet to not hurt his ego) was approaching 25, while Tony was exactly 10 years older than her, and they were…. Well, the only good word was "the same"; besides age and gender, the only differences were that she guided the European subsidiary of the group as ceo of EuroStark (what he was for the American branch), making her an almost full-time London resident; that she built and projected things in an attic and not a garage, ant that she enjoyed the life of the rich heiress a little bit more than him, with the same amount of scandals, if not more. According to someone, she was the "new Paris Hilton", just with more taste and style and even money – and more rumours on her.

"I'll say it again, Chris. You have it bad. – He red again the message, imagining that or she wanted to avoid the discussion or she was crying - you have it bad, and it's not like you. I mean, how many rules did you break last night?"

"I don't think that normal brothers talk about sex this way with their younger sisters " she turned again, more because she wanted to give another quick look at the message than to look at her brother. He, obviously, knew she was sarcastic, since that argument had never been a taboo; it was him who had "the talk" with her once she was going to go to MIT,, in the years, she had seen her own dose of almost totally naked random girls at their home, and, as he always told Obediah – who never took her in proper consideration – she was at least as smart as him. All these factors, according to the press and scandal tabloids, had tuned her into a free spirit (again, a female version of himself): according to those sources, she didn't dislike one-night-stands, liked men but was into women too and even found herself dividing her bed (or wherever she had sex in) with more than just one person. She had never confirmed it, sure, but neither did she deny these facts, and, sometimes, knowing her, Tony found them easily believable.

"He had to see Fury, that's all." She was avoiding eye-contact and, from her strange tone, it seemed that she wanted to justify herself. Meaning….

"tell me it's not your SHILED contact we're talking about! C'mon Chris, it's about rule number one we're talking about here!" when they had "the talk", he suggested her the use of what he called "the 5 rules" , what he stated women used with him to avoid breaking hearths and shame. essentially, they were something that Samantha from Sex&The City would be proud of, about loveless sex and bitching around.

"Yeah, yeah, I know them – she said with an annoyed look as she started to count them on her fingers . – 1st, never an ex or someone you work with; 2nd, never at my place; 3rd, never weak up together; 4th, leave before morning or before him; 5th, no "I love you" or similar." Listening to her sarcastic voice, and looking at how shining and happy she looked like, He decided to give a new look at the paper; it looked like who wrote it was unsure of what he was writing, and, just to piss her off, like he often did, he decided to read it at loud…

_Chris, it's 4 a.m. and Fury just texted me. I have to go back to DC. Sorry I didn't wake up, but I wasn't able to…believe me, I had to fight the urge to do it, kiss you and take you in my arms, but, if there's something I know for sure, it's that you have to rest, after everything that happened. Please, don't be too mad if I didn't say a proper goodbye, because I have to remember you that you still have my favourite shirt and tie with you, and I need them back!  I'll try to came back as soon as possible. I need you. I want you. I want to stay with you, and for the first time in my life, I'm enjoying the fact that I'm going to meet the family of a girl I'm going out with… for once, I just want to be normal, I want to both of us to act as normal people in a normal situation, although you keep saying that your family is totally dysfunctional. I'll try to convince Fury to let me come back, meanwhile, I'll text you, e-mail you, call you… you're not going to get rid of me that easily, sweetheart.__ Good God, Chris, I'm sitting at your side and, while I look at you sleeping, I'm already missing you. I know, I'm sounding pathetic. Or like an idiot, but it's true, I'll miss you… I really hope to be able to be back soon. I love you, yours, Hal. _

"I'll say it again – he said as he looked at her, who was giggling – you have it bad, sis. By the way, who the hell is this Hal? Besides being your SHIELD contact."

"It's more like I'm his contact, actually – she said gesticulating - You remember that guy Rhodey introduced to us last Christmas? His fellow USAF Captain, I mean. That was Hal. He is a reckless, fearless and with the greatest willpower ever seen. Not my words, I swear. At the time I was already doing some projects for Fury, who decided he wanted him in, and so, he asked me to arrange something through Rhodey. So, one day he was USAF, the next one…"

"he was sleeping with you"

"He is a Shield agent" she pointed out, quite annoyed.

"who happens to have sex with you."

"whom I'm dating, whom I'm in love with and who is in love with me." she pointed it out again, smiling, hands on her cheeks; just then he saw that, at her ring finger, she was wearing a white gold ring, with an emerald in the shape of an hearth, surrounded by many small black diamonds. He smirked, skimming over the main stone, looking in his sister's eyes.

"Tell me, Chris, how many rules did you break last night?"

"All" she simply stated, as she left her seat and, gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, come back in her room.


End file.
